"Wedding Song (There Is Love)" is a title of a 1971 hit single by

Paul Stookey Noel Paul Stookey (born December 30, 1937) is an American singer-songwriter who was famous for being in the 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary; however, he has been known by his first name, Noel, throughout his life. Nowadays, he continues to w ...

: the song—which Stookey credits to divine inspiration— has since been recorded by many singers (with versions by

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

and

Mary MacGregor Mary MacGregor (born May 6, 1948) is an American singer. She is best known for singing the 1976 song " Torn Between Two Lovers", which topped the ''Billboard'' charts for two weeks. Career MacGregor was born May 6, 1948, in St. Paul, Minne ...

returning it to the ''Billboard'' Hot 100)—and remains a popular choice for performance at weddings.

Composition and original recording

Stookey had first performed the song at the wedding of

Peter Yarrow Peter Yarrow (born May 31, 1938) is an American singer and songwriter who found fame for being in the 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Yarrow co-wrote (with Leonard Lipton) one of the group's best known hits, " Puff, the Magic Dragon". He ...

—Stookey's co-member of Peter Paul & Mary—to Mary Beth McCarthy at Saint Mary's Catholic Church in

Willmar, Minnesota Willmar is a city in, and the county seat of, Kandiyohi County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 21,015 at the 2020 census. History Agricultural expansion and the establishment of Willmar as a division point on the Great Northern ...

. Stookey was

best man A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony and performs the first speech at the wedding. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be s ...

at the ceremony, which took place in the evening of October 18, 1969. Stookey recorded "Wedding Song (There Is Love)" for his solo album ''Paul and'', which was released on July 23, 1971. On this track he accompanied himself on a

12-string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in ...

tuned a tone and a half down. On June 28, 1971, "Wedding Song" was issued as an advance single from the ''Paul and'' album. It reached No. 24 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

in ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' and reached No. 3 on the Easy Listening chart. Internationally, Stookey reached No. 31 in Canada and No. 55 in Australia with "Wedding Song".

Petula Clark version

recorded "Wedding Song (There Is Love)" in the August 1972 sessions at Trident Recording Studios in London for her album ''Now'' produced by

Mike Curb Michael Curb (born December 24, 1944) is an American musician, record company executive, motorsports car owner, philanthropist, and former politician. He is also the founder of Curb Records where he presently serves as the chairman. Curb also s ...

with the album's arranger

Don Costa Dominick P. "Don" Costa (June 10, 1925 – January 19, 1983) was an American conductor and record producer. He discovered singer Paul Anka and worked on several hit albums by Frank Sinatra, including '' Sinatra and Strings'' and ''My Way''. ...

. "Wedding Song..." was issued in September 1972 as the second advance single from the ''Now'' album which would be a December 1972 release: "Wedding Song..." would chart at No. 9 on the

Adult contemporary music Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet sto ...

charts and reached No. 65 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In the UK "Wedding Song (There Is Love)" had an October 6, 1972 single release, being Clark's first UK single release since "

I Don't Know How to Love Him "I Don't Know How to Love Him" is a song from the 1970 album and 1971 rock opera ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' written by Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) and Tim Rice (lyrics), a torch ballad sung by the character of Mary Magdalene. In the opera s ...

" in November 1971. "Wedding Song..." did not enter the UK singles chart despite being aired on October 26, 1972 ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of ...

'' broadcast. A minor mainstream Pop chart item in Canada with a No. 67 peak, "Wedding Song (There Is Love)" afforded Clark a major hit in Australia in the spring of 1973, spending 11 weeks in the Top 20 with a peak of No. 10. Clark also recorded a French rendering of "Wedding Song (There Is Love)" entitled "Il est temps", featuring lyrics by Pierre Delanoë: this version was issued as the B-side of Clark's December 1972 French single release "Bleu, Blanc, Rouge" and was included on Clark's 1973 francophone album ''Petula''. The 2002

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

release ''Petula Clark: A Sign of the Times'' which features footage from Clark's performance at the Virginia Arts Festival May 20–21, 2001, includes her performance of "The Wedding Song (There Is Love)" (so entitled).

Other versions

Prior to the release of the Petula Clark version,

Southern Comfort Southern Comfort (often abbreviated SoCo) is an American, naturally fruit-flavored, whiskey liqueur with fruit and spice accents. The brand was created by bartender Martin Wilkes Heron in New Orleans in 1874, using whiskey as the base spirit. ...

had recorded "Wedding Song (There Is Love)" for their 1972 album ''Stir Don't Shake'' from which it was issued as a single in August 1972. "The Wedding Song (There Is Love)"—so titled—became a Top Ten hit in Ireland via the May 1974 release credited to the veteran showband Kelley and the Nevada, fronted by vocalist Eileen Kelley. The single reached No. 3 on the Irish hit parade dated July 11, 1974. This was the Nevada's second hit version of a Petula Clark US charting single - Red Hurley and the Nevada scored a 1971 Irish No. 1 hit with a remake of Clark's 1968 US Top 20 hit " Kiss Me Goodbye". "The Wedding Song" was the second and final chart single by the Nevada fronted by Kelley—subsequent to the band's version of "

How Great Thou Art "How Great Thou Art" is a Christian hymn based on an original Swedish hymn entitled "" written in 1885 by Carl Boberg (1859–1940). The English version of the hymn and its title are a loose translation by the English missionary Stuart K. Hine ...

" (No. 8 in 1972) and was the fourth and final collaboration between Kelley and the Nevada.

Captain & Tennille Captain & Tennille were American recording artists whose primary success occurred in the 1970s. The husband-and-wife team were "Captain" Daryl Dragon (1942–2019) and Toni Tennille (born 1940). They have five albums certified gold or platinu ...

recorded "Wedding Song (There Is Love)" for their 1976 album '' Song of Joy''. "Wedding Song" was intended to be issued as a fourth single from the album and would have followed up the 1976-77 Top Ten hit "

Muskrat Love "Muskrat Love" is a soft rock song written by Willis Alan Ramsey. The song depicts a romantic liaison between two anthropomorphic muskrats named Susie and Sam. It was first recorded in 1972 by Ramsey for his sole album release '' Willis Alan Ra ...

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

had gone as far as assigning a catalog number (A&M 1894) for the track's single release when it was canceled; Captain & Tennille's follow-up single to "Muskrat Love" turned out to be "Can't Stop Dancin'", the advance single from the duo's upcoming '' Come in from the Rain'' album. "The Wedding Song (There Is Love)"—so titled—returned to the ''Billboard'' charts in the autumn of 1978 via a version by

which reached No. 23 Easy Listening and No. 81 on the Hot 100. MacGregor had been discovered by Peter Yarrow, whose wedding occasioned the song's composition, but Yarrow was not involved in MacGregor's recording of "The Wedding Song", which was produced by Gene Cotton and recorded at the Creative Workshop studio in Berry Hill, Tennessee.''Billboard'' Vol 90 No. 45 (November 11, 1978) p.79 The Mary MacGregor version made its album debut on the 1979 release '' Mary MacGregor's Greatest Hits''. Other versions of "Wedding Song (There Is Love)" have been recorded by

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an internat ...

(album ''Belafonte...Live!'' (1972)),

the Lettermen The Lettermen are an American male pop vocal trio. The Lettermen's trademark is close-harmony pop songs with light arrangements. The group started in 1959. They have had two Top 10 singles (both No. 7), 16 Top 10 singles on the Adult Contempo ...

(album ''Close to You'' (1971)), Helena Vondráčková (as "Je teď tvá" Czech - album ''Helena a Stryci'' (1974)),

Nana Mouskouri Ioanna "Nana" Mouskouri ( el, Ιωάννα "Νάνα" Μούσχουρη ) (born 13 October 1934) is a Greek singer. Over the span of her career, she has released over 200 albums in at least twelve languages, including Greek, French, English, Ge ...

(album ''Nana's Book of Songs'' (1975)), Daliah Lavi (as "Liebe Lebt" German - album ''Neuer Wind'' (1976)), Bonnie St. Claire (as "'K Hou Van Jou" Dutch - album ''Sla Je Arm Om Me Heen'' (1983)) and

Sandler and Young Sandler and Young were an American musical duo from the 1960s through the 1980s, composed of Belgian singer Tony Sandler and native New Yorker Ralph Young. First success Sandler and Young appeared with Polly Bergen in her show at the Las Veg ...

(album ''You've Got a Friend in...''). Two versions with lyrics have been recorded by

James Last James Last (, ; born Hans Last; 17 April 1929 – 9 June 2015), also known as Hansi, was a German composer and big band leader of the James Last Orchestra. Initially a jazz bassist (Last won the award for "best bassist" in Germany in each of ...

(albums ''Love Must Be the Reason'' (1972), ''Beachparty 3'' (1972) and ''James Last Live'' (1974) (2 LP-album)). Instrumental versions have been recorded by the O'Neill Brothers (album ''A Day to Remember: Instrumental Music for Your Wedding Day'' (2002)) and

Bradley Joseph Bradley Joseph (born 1965) is an American composer, arranger, and producer of contemporary instrumental music. His compositions include works for orchestra, quartet, and solo piano, while his musical style ranges from "quietly pensive mood music ...

(album '' Piano Love Songs'' (2006)).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wedding Song (There Is Love), The 1971 singles 1972 singles Petula Clark songs Captain & Tennille songs Mary MacGregor songs 1969 songs Folk ballads Songs written by Paul Stookey Songs about marriage